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Balancing between Human Rights and Security

  

By Ali Sina 

A while ago I expressed my concern over Muslims holding sensitive jobs in Western countries.  Peculiar to these jobs is the dangerous predicament they present to the world, as they afford those who work in them the means and opportunity, should they choose to do so, to either commit themselves or to help bring about acts of terror. Jobs that well fit this description include pilot, soldier as well as those which involve working in places such as water reservoirs or in labs, environments where they may have access to potentially deadly bacteria. These are just a few of many such jobs.  Why this is an issue that has become so urgent for the world and therefore must now be addressed is due to the daunting reality that Islam presents, as it is embodied by those Muslims throughout the world who follow and practice it.   Here it must be said, Islam is unique among the world�s major religions for the clear and inescapable fact that it scripturally teaches and actively condones hatred for all non-believers, known as the �infidels�, regardless of their station, while it adamantly implores Muslims to fight them, even kill them at every opportunity, and to not cease in doing so until those remaining have submitted and the world has become dar al Islam, or part of the body politic that is forever comprised of Islamic and only Islamic nations who by their God-given mandate must rule over all others.  This is its ethic. This is its avowed goal.  And this is what is happening throughout the world, in both developing and developed countries. 

Islam aside, it must be conceded that not all Muslims are likely to take these Quranic verses seriously or to heart and then act accordingly.  In my own case, most of my relatives and friends are Muslims and none of them is a terrorist.  However, there are Muslims that, given the proper inducement and clear opportunity, would gladly do so.  Therein lies the dilemma and the challenge. While individuals may be innocent, Islam is not, because in the end it is individuals who follow Islam, and not the other way around. 

Islamic terrorism has a long history. In the 11th century Hassan Sabbah, the founder of the present Ismaeli sect, created an Order of Assassins that terrorized the Middle East from India to Egypt for 200 years and took the lives of hundreds of politicians, statesmen and men of prominence. The would-be terrorists were drugged with hashish and then were taken to a secret garden filled with luxuries and beautiful young girls. They were told that they have seen a glimpse of paradise and they could return if they assassinate an opponent of the sect. These young men became fearless. They would follow their orders and murder their designated victim valiantly. But they would not leave the scene of the murder. They would stay to be caught and faced their own death with a smile, hoping that they would be reunited with those girls they met when they were under the narcotic influence. In fact, the word assassin is the English version of the Arabic word hashashin, which means users of hashish. 

Amazingly, this fanaticism and defying of death by these young men impressed the general population, filling them with awe. The fanaticism of these devotees who called themselves fedai (men of sacrifice) was viewed as a demonstration of the strength and the truth of their faith.  Never were these terrorists condemned in any way. Instead they received the admiration, even adulation of millions. Foolhardy young men yearned to enter into the Order and become a fedai, murdering someone, and then later be executed. 

Today Muslim terrorists still call themselves fedai, while they happily face their own death, fearlessly offering themselves only to kill others. Amazingly, just as before, there is little or no condemnation for their dastardly acts among the general Muslim population. Just as Hassan Sabbah would reward the families of his assassins handsomely, the families of the terrorists today likewise receive gifts and support from their fellow Muslims, while themselves are hailed as heroes and lauded as role models for young Muslims to emulate. 

There are many among Muslims who are filled with this Quranic-inspired hate who willingly, even cheerfully commit violence and acts of terror. Islam is rampant with this hatred and is sustained by it. Everywhere Islam exists you will find such hatred, in its literature, mosques, and in its media.  Often the only source quoted comes directly from the Quran, Islam�s holy book.  It is through this multiplicity of available sources of hatred throughout Muslim culture and society that Muslim youth who attend Islamic centers and mosques are inculcated, through their religious instruction to despise and hate their host, non-Muslim countries. It is for this reason that some will sometimes act on this hatred, bringing death and violence, leaving behind a trail of devastation. 

It is this inherent violence in the holy text of Islam that makes it imperative for then non-Muslim nations hosting Muslims, to find a balance between the respect for human rights and their own security. How much risk are we willing to take, and what price are we prepared to pay to uphold the standards of the Human Rights?  

We are facing a religion that has openly declared war on the rest of humanity.  This declaration of war is not something new. Its origins can be found in the Quran. This war against the humanity was declared by Muhammad, the founder of Islam, some 1400 years ago, and barring some periods of ceasefire when Muslims were weak and could not sustain it; this war has really never ended. The declared objective of this war is to make Islam the dominant religion of he world and subdue and eliminate all other religions. The Quran leaves little doubt as to what is its ultimate goal:  

�Fight them on until there is no more tumult and religion becomes that of Allah� Q. 2:193 

This call to fight, or Jihad as Muhammad referred to it, over the centuries has claimed millions of lives in Arabia, Persia, India and in Europe. In India alone over 80 million people, most of whom non-combatant civilians, were massacred by invading Muslim warriors.  The historian Will Durant in The Story of Civilization writes: "The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying from within.� 

Today, Islamic militancy, with its newfound oil wealth, is resurgent throughout the globe. With its billions in aid, the jihad has been reaffirmed, and mobilized throughout the world. Muslim warriors are ready to take their flight to paradise and meet their celestial damsels as were promised in the Quran, by killing and being killed. The question is how do you know, how can you tell the terrorist from the peaceful Muslim? 

The model for Islamic terrorism emanates from its founder.  There are numerous stories in the Quran that recount the Prophet�s many acts of cruelty.  For instance, if he did not favor someone, he would ask his followers to get rid of that person. They would then vie against each other to see who would do the job and could then please their master. One of Muhammad's early victims was a 120-year-old Jewish man who became upset when the Prophet killed a man of his tribe. In a satire he cursed those who followed Muhammad so blindly. Upon hearing this, the Prophet was filled with rage. Read the rest of the story from The Sirat Rasul Allah (The Life Of The Prophet Of God), By Ibn Ishaq (1), Page 675: 

The apostle said, "Who will deal with this rascal for me?" Whereupon Salim b. Umayr, brother of B. Amr b. Auf, one of the "weepers", went forth and killed him.� 

And the Kitab Al Tabaqat Al Kabir (Book Of The Major Classes), Volume 2, By Ibn Sa'd, (2), Page 32  reports: 

Abu Afak, was from Banu Amr Ibn Awf, and was an old man who had attained the age of one hundred and twenty years. He was a Jew, and used to instigate the people against the Apostle of Allah, and composed (satirical) verses [about Muhammad]. 

Salim Ibn Umayr who was one of the great weepers [Muslims consider weeping as an act of piety] and who had participated in Badr [one of the raids of Muhammad against a merchant caravan], said, "I take a vow that I shall either kill Abu Afak or die before him. He waited for an opportunity until a hot night came, and Abu Afak slept in an open place. Salim Ibn Umayr knew it, so he placed the sword on his liver and pressed it till it reached his bed. The enemy of Allah screamed and the people who were his followers, rushed to him, took him to his house and interred him�. 

When the news of the assassination of this old man reached Asma bint Marwan, a poetess and a mother of five small children, she was so outraged that composed a poem expressing her rage for the Arabs and the Jews of Medina who would let a foreigner (from Mecca) murder an old man of their own and do nothing about it. Let us read the rest of the story from Sirat Rasul Allah (A. Guilaume's translation "The Life of Muhammad") page 675, 676.  

�When the apostle heard what she had said he said, "Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?" `Umayr b. `Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done and he [Muhammad] said, "You have helped God and His apostle, O `Umayr!" When he asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, "Two goats won't butt their heads about her", so `Umayr went back to his people.� 

There are many who were eliminated in this way by the Prophet of Allah. Terror and assassination of the opponents of Islam is not new. Today the Islamic terrorists are carrying out the prescribed Jihad and are hearkening to verses such as this:     

�Lo, Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfills His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that you have made, for that is the supreme triumph� (Q. 9:111)

 Of course this mandate to slay and be slain is not found in the Torah and the Gospel. Muhammad�s knowledge about these books was rudimentary. By linking himself to Moses and Jesus he pretended continuity in order to gain credibility, in the eyes of the Arabs who themselves were generally ignorant of these books. .  

Though it must be pointed out that not every Muslim knows these facts about Islam and they are generally unaware that Quran calls for murder and Muhammad killed many innocent people treacherously, many of them do know and despite that still believe in Islam. It is this group that we have to fear.  

Muslim apologists try to whitewash Islamic terrorism and claim it as just an act of desperation by misguided youth driven by poverty and lack of hope. However, many of the terrorists come from middleclass to well-to-do families. The suicide bombers of 9/11 were not poor. How can we explain the suicide bombing of Omar Khan Sharif and Asif Mohammed Hanif who were British citizens, educated in England and had all the opportunities and privileges of living in a wealthy, western nation?  What would make these two young men become suicide bombers in Israel and take part in a war that is not theirs?   

The fact is that this terrorism is not over politics (unless Islam is seen as politics). It is not economical, nor racial, nor territorial. This is a religious war, as seen through the eyes of Muslims. Muslims fight amongst each other and kill one another. Yet vis-�-vis the non-Muslims they have a sense of oneness and unity that is called Ummah. Most Muslims are aware that Saddam Hussein was a murderer who had killed thousands of innocent people, that he had gassed children and women without mercy. So they would have loved to see him go, but not at the hands of an infidel country such as America. In their minds, despite all his vices, Saddam is a Muslim brother, and that fact alone cannot be ignored. If a Muslim is subdued by a non-Muslim, the honor of all the Ummah is lacerated. Therefore it is the duty of all Muslims to seek revenge. Muslim�s loyalty is first with the Ummah. 

When Bangladesh got its independence after the Pakistanis massacred up to three million of them, India came to their assistance and Israel was the first country that recognized Bangladesh�s independence. All the Muslim countries supported Pakistan and remained silent when Yahya, Khan, the dictator of Pakistan, was butchering the Bangladeshis. Despite this the Bangladeshi Muslims would not hesitate to take the side of the Arabs and the Ummah in any conflict that they may have with Israel, or to take side of Pakistan in any dispute with India. Israelis have never made war against Iran and no Iranian blood was ever spilt by Israel. Despite that the Iranian Muslims do not falter to take the side of the Palestinians and fund their terrorist activities despite the fact that the Palestinians have been cheek to cheek with Saddam, a man who attacked Iran and murdered more than half a million of Iranians. Muslims may call one another heretics and may slit each other�s throat over beliefs, yet they are united in their hatred of the non-Muslims. This hatred of others is the binding force of the Ummah. 

Only by understanding the psychology of the concept of Ummah, with all its inherent tribal and pack mentality, can we begin to understand how it is that an American Muslim could travel to Afghanistan and fight alongside other Muslims and against his own country. Only by understanding Ummah can we understand what motivated two British citizens of Pakistani origin to travel to Israel to murder Israeli civilians by blowing themselves up. It is only by understanding Ummah that we can see why Muslims did not uniformly and overwhelming condemn the terrorist attacks of 9/11 immediately afterwards and when they even did so, did so only in a reserved manner, while still managing to cite America and her foreign policies as the ultimate culprit. Muslims can never forgive America for not letting them wipe out the Israel. Muslims will stand together, without any question, in support of each other even though they may be mortal enemies. Muslim brotherhood and unity is achieved only through the hatred of non-Muslims. Otherwise Muslims are no brothers to each other and in fact there has been much bloodshed and wars amongst the Muslims since the death of Muhammad.   

Many westerners are starting to question the loyalty of the Muslims among them and some even see them as the fifth column. It is troubling to see that the good will and the tolerance of the Westerners is gradually waning and sings of hostility is showing up. The violent teachings in the Quran are directly to be blamed. They are not helping in bridging this widening gap of distrust. In the final analysis, it is up to the Muslims to take the initiative and build the broken bridges and restore the trust. That means dealing with the Quran and its call to violence. No matter how hard it may be, sooner or later Muslims must question the Quran and its effect in their relationship with the rest of the humanity.  

Islamic terrorism cannot be eliminated by daisy cutters, tanks and military might. Today Osama bin Laden is irrelevant. Little more than figurehead, though a folk hero to millions, he is just as easily replaceable. Muslim fighters do not need his or anyone�s instruction to carry out their deadly pursuits. Anyone can become a fedai or a Muslim warrior. Any Muslim can pack a case with explosives and blow up buildings packed with people. The instruction comes from the Quran.   

The latest bombings in Riyadh and Morocco prove that despite billions of dollars spent in the fight against terrorism, this war is far from over. Over the long term, these wars may pull the nations targeted into economical disaster and could even lead to a depression far worse than what occurred in the 1930s. And even then the Islamic terrorism may not end. Therefore it is incumbent upon us, the free people of the world to accept the fact that this is a religious war, and the only way to combat it is to fight it on ideological grounds. It is na�f to believe we can destroy the Islamic terrorism leaving Islam unscathed. As long as Islam is believed to be a religion, terrorism will keep growing and lives will be lost.    

It is clear that the Islamic terrorists are acting according to the teachings of the Quran and are following the examples set by their Prophet and not because they misunderstand Islam or misinterpret the Quran.  

The onus is now on the Muslims. It is up to them to denounce Islam along with its violent teachings and prove it to the world that they do not support a doctrine that preaches terror. The onus is also on us to be alert to Islamic propaganda, not to give in and do not allow the spread of a doctrine that avows to take away our freedom. 

Muslims have to learn that they cannot have it both ways. They cannot present themselves as law-abiding, peaceful people and at the same time hold onto a book that preaches the wanton killing of the non-Muslims as the word of God. They cannot pretend to be for peace while at the same time defending and promoting a religion of war. How credible is a neo-Nazi when he claims to be for peace and equality of races?  It is these peaceful Muslims, who by their support of Islam are unconsciously promoting its ideology of terror. If peaceful Muslims denounce Islam and stop being apologetic about it, the foolhardy suicide bombers will realize that the whole promise of heaven and the virgins is false. It is the tacit support, the encouragement and admiration of these peaceful Muslims that feeds the terrorists� frenzy and validates their zeal to kill and become martyrs.   

I predict that Muslims will find themselves more and more isolated. The rift of distrust among Muslims and non-Muslims will continue to widen. Mutual animosity will escalate. If something is not done, in the end, the big losers will be the Muslims while no one would win. The time has come that Muslims come out of their cocoons, take a hard look at their religion and understand that Islam is not a religion but the hallucination and wild ranting of a mad man.  I am afraid there is no other alternative. Truth and only truth will set us free. 

   

1-Sirat Rasul Allah (The Life Of The Prophet Of God), By Ibn Ishaq (1), Page 675:   

 

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